


Among Them

by GameCube



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, I’ll add more tags later, Multi, Other, PTSD, Purple SOUL - Freeform, Reader Is Not Chara, Reader Is Not Frisk, Reader has Appearance, Reverse Harem, Violence potentially, We might get there eventually, Well... kinda, Workaholic, nervous reader, nonbinary reader, reader has a nickname, reality shifting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:13:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27508912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GameCube/pseuds/GameCube
Summary: Reality Shifting, Lucid Dreams, and Astral Projection all have one thing in common.You’re apparently really bad at them.But when a new method of Shifting comes across your FYP on tiktok, you can’t help but give it a try. And it seems to be successful, but... nothing’s how you imagined it’d be.Weren’t you supposed to only have one pair of skeletons next door? And why can’t you get home to your usual reality?!
Relationships: Papyrus (Fellswap gold)/Reader, Papyrus (Underswap)/Reader, Sans (Underfell)/Reader, Sans (Undertale)/Reader
Comments: 21
Kudos: 105





	1. Shifting

**Author's Note:**

> .  
> .  
> .  
> Update Schedule:  
> (Hopefully) every  
> Tuesday or Wednesday  
> .  
> .  
> .

Reality shifting has many methods. All of which you’ve tried with limited success. You tried that heartbeat method for the first time last night and it brought you to Japan for a few hours, surrounded by a mash up of anime characters, Kyo and Yuki from Fruits Basket specifically leading you around and housing you after your plane landed...? Not your desired result for sure, but it was progress you guess. You haven’t watched that show in forever so you’re not sure why it had them first when your intended target reality isn’t even an anime.  
  


Anything with scripting was harder for you, never been much of a writer, so you’ve been avoiding it, and thank the gods above the heartbeat method seemed to work. Maybe tonight you’ll be able to make it, after all, you were rather frustrated with your environment last time. Blankets kept tangling, arms or legs were uncomfortable, your phones charger was in the way, too much light, not enough... yeah it was a rather rough night. You could only really tell it worked that time because you woke up feeling different. As if your body was in this reality but your consciousness wasn’t. Or maybe vice versa? Either way, progress is progress, and you’ll be damned if you don’t continue to try. But unfortunately you have to get through another miserable day in your current reality before you can attempt again.

It's just the same old same old, day in and out, as you clean tables, take orders, give change and fix food for rude, entitled customers. Get screamed at by a drunk lady, get tipped by another drunk lady for crying due to the previous one, feel guilty for it. Stop a fight, call security, get burned by the fry station, snuff out another small grease fire on the grill with your spatula, report it to management again in hopes the trap above gets fixed so you’ll stop having to report it every day.

Clocking out of a breakless shift, driving home with stops for takeout on the way back, walking inside an empty apartment to eat some shitty Chinese food alone. Taking a shower, watching some shitty horror movie or a rerun of a show you’ve seen a million times, watching tiktoks before-

A new method... of shifting...?

You watch the video a million times over, familiarizing yourself with it before attempting. It’s really just a combination of a few others plus some witchy stuff, nothing you’re not used to, and definitely nothing flashy. You do practice after all, mainly things like lucid dreaming- which you experience naturally, though they tend to end quickly, you blame it on wimping out anytime it shows you scary things- and astral projection with minimal luck, plus tarot cards, death magic, and protection spells. Luckily, what this calls for, you’ve already had some experience in.

It’s essentially attempting astral projection with a mix of death magic and protective spells, like you’d use to speak to a lost loved one, but with the heartbeat method and scripting. You can vaguely see how this could be extremely dangerous... done wrong, anyway. And you are quite concerned about this method falling in the hands of baby witches. Fuck... who knows what those guys would do this time if they got ahold of this, right?

You gather a protection spell you have yet to set intentions on, some items from your altar, and prep for the spell. Setting the intentions for your protection first, then lighting your candles one by one, colors corresponding with protective intents as well as other traits necessary. Lavender scented to aid sleep.

It goes by fairly fast, the words themselves aren’t the best written, hell, the prick to your finger by your ritual knife was more memorable despite being a normal part of most of your own spells, yet for some reason still raise goosebumps. You shrug off the sensation as the temperature being too cold before politely snuffing out the candles and laying in bed in the starfish pose, listening to a heartbeat and imagining one of the characters from the world you’re attempting to enter leading you in, counting 1 to 100 the whole way.

* * *

  
.

.

.  
  
👌︎♏︎ ♍︎♋︎❒︎♏︎♐︎◆︎●︎ ⬥︎♒︎♋︎⧫︎ ⍓︎□︎◆︎ ⬥︎♓︎⬧︎♒︎ ♐︎□︎❒︎ ♒︎◆︎❍︎♋︎■︎📬︎📬︎📬︎  
  
.

.

.

* * *

It didn’t work, you’re sure of it. How? Well... life just repeats as normal.

Its the same old same old, day in day out. You wake up, eat some breakfast alone in your empty apartment, run into your new monster neighbors on your way out the door. A couple of them attempted to introduce themselves, but unfortunately you’re running late. You clock in, take orders, give back change, make said orders, dish them out, wipe down tables and get yelled at by another drunk customer, get tipped by a drunk monster customer for crying, feel guilty. Get burned by the fry station, snuff out that damn tiny grease fire that always starts halfway through your shift, report it again, clock out for the day, drive back home with some cold food from Grillby’s, to find your new monster neighbors are being loud-

Wait.

_Hold the mother **fuck** up._

A glance down at the cold burger with Grillby’s packaging, mouth half full, mid chew. You turn it over in your hand, eyeing the logo’s design, unwrinkling it, crumpling it back up, uncrumpling it again, the more you do so, the more it sinks in. You shifted.

You _actually_... shifted.

That’s an actual Grillby burger you’ve been eating, the monsters you saw at work, the neighbors who moved into the larger apartment are monsters, too. You didn’t get a good look but they were definitely monsters. And if this is anything like how you had tried scripting it...

In a second you’re up from your couch, moving frantically as you try to prepare yourself. A quick batch of cookies and some preening later, and you’re now in front of the neighbors door working up the courage to knock. If it’s not who you think it is, you’ll still be seen as a good neighbor and maybe make a new friend.

If it is...

You pale.

Shit.

Will they know you’re new to this reality? Does it even matter? You never got that far into scripting to know what you would’ve preferred, but currently you’re hoping it’s they wouldn’t know. Or that it’s at least more developed-

“HUMAN? ARE YOU ALRIGHT?” Papyrus, now standing in the doorway you had been looking at seconds before, shocks you out of the weird spiral you were heading into.

“Oh! Uh, sorry! I must’ve gotten a bit too nervous there.”

“NO WORRIES, HUMAN! IT CAN BE QUITE NERVE WRACKING TO BE IN THE PRESENCE OF SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME!” He strikes a pose, hand on chest, the other on his hipbone, and looking so confident. It’s even more adorable in real life.

“Hah, of course. Ah... right, I live next door and wasn't able to say hello this morning, so I made some cookies for y’all as a ‘welcome to the neighborhood’ type deal-“

“GASP-“ Did he really just say the word ‘gasp’ out loud? That’s super on brand. “-FRIENDSHIP FOOD? FOR US?! I DO BELIEVE I'M A BIT ILL-PREPARED BUT-“ Papyrus rushes you inside before you can protest, instilling more fear in your heart than you can ever imagine.

“U-uh-“

“COME IN, COME IN! WE SHALL EAT THESE COOKIES TOGETHER!” Fuck fuck fuck fuck this isn’t how you expected this to go. You only wanted to be here long enough to give one of them the plate. A quick lookie-loo to see if you were right. Not this, not this soon. Sans might realize.

"EVERYONE! OUR HUMAN NEIGHBOR BROUGHT OVER COOKIES!” At his words, loud thudding steps could be heard from the back of the apartment growing closer, as three more skeletons waltz in with lax expressions. Sans, Stretch, Mutt... or was it Coffee? Whoever the SF-G guy was. As they filter in, their respective brothers Blueberry and Wine (Blackberry? Gods, you need to refresh yourself on UT AU’s), barrel through the door, almost simultaneously.

No. No, this is wrong. There shouldn’t be this many of them here. You would’ve never scripted so many for the first time around!


	2. First Impressions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I’m aware some of you may not know I’m taking Shifting from real life stuff.  
> I’ve put some twists on it for stories sake, so explaining it in the future may be QUITE off, but I suggest checking it out if you’re even slightly interested in the concept of it 👀
> 
> https://www.google.com/amp/s/aminoapps.com/c/desired/amp/item/shifting-101/xLkq_62tQIwrX0RmqxQaPzm52RjVxYn78B

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to put Monday, not Tuesday on my last note about update dates. I’m sorry about that!

To be certain, this is not how Sans expected the first day in his new apartment. Not entirely unwelcome considering the food, but he’s gotta be real here... he doesn’t like the human who was rather rude and flippant to his brother earlier, who is now in his home. Something about them rubs him the wrong way.

  
Their bright ginger hair is pulled into a short pony tail, or what’s left of it anyway, with shaved sides minus 2 patches where the sideburns would be. Their outfit consisting of a well loved reverse tie dyed shirt- the collar of it being stretched out and littered in burn holes from what Sans assumes are cigarette embers- and a pair of black sweatpants topped with rusty orange colored fox slippers. A pair of roundish glasses rests on their nose. They almost look like they came straight from Red and Edges universe, if he’s completely honest. But their appearance isn’t what bothers him.

“OH, YES I BELIEVE I SHOULD INTRODUCE EVERYONE, THEN!” Sans’ brother starts, the poor human in the skelebro’s apartment standing there like a deer caught in headlights. Perhaps it’s because they’re all skeletons? There seems to be an odd look in their slightly wild eyes that he can't quite place.

“THIS ONE IS SANS, HE’S MY LAZY BONES OF A BROTHER, THEN THERE’S STRETCH NEXT TO HIM IN THE ORANGE HOODIE,” The lanky skeleton gives a small dismissing wave before Paps moves on, “AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST OF THEM IS, COFFEE. HE IS NOT MUCH OF A TALKER, BUT DO TRY NOT TO TAKE OFFENSE, HE’S LIKE THAT WITH EVERYONE!” This is when Sans steps forward, offering out his hand to them before greeting them.

“nice to meet ya, kiddo.” He stands there waiting for the human to take his hand, but as time stretches on, they just stare at his hand with rising fear in their eyes. The others seem to have caught on to the weird staring contest they’ve started with his phalanges and are now looking between each other nervously as well. Is it culture shock? Perhaps they’re the first monsters they’ve met. Surely not, though. After all, the Classic monsters have been surfaced for a few years now. He can’t figure it out, or why it puts him off so much.

“heh, don’t worry about it too much kid. you don’t have ta shake it if you don’t wanna.” He says, trying to be reassuring, but they just continue to stare with that... that _look_ that he can’t place.

“uh...”

“OH! THE HUMAN WAS DOING THAT IN FRONT OF THE DOOR WHEN I OPENED IT AS WELL. THEY DIDN’T EVEN KNOCK YET.” They jump as his brothers voice with a quiet squeak.

“Shit, sorry. I... I do that sometimes. Disassociation spells. Y-yeah, I’m gonna pass...”

“THERE’S NO REASON TO BE SHY! WE (PROBABLY) WON’T BITE!” Blue chirps from the table.

“Not shy, I’m afraid. I’m just... not good with physical contact, it’s nothing personal.” The human says in a rushed way. This seems to placate most of them, but a quick look at Stretch shows he’s slightly skeptical of their excuse. Sans chooses to ignore it in place of getting along. He doesn’t plan on keep a human around much longer, besides this one works most of the day it seems, and only came by to be polite. They shouldn’t be a problem.

* * *

Once Papyrus introduces the rest to you- the only ones you hadn’t known for sure being Wine and Coffee- and cookies have been eaten, you take this as a chance to leave. Being in an alternate reality for a day doesn’t excuse you from work, apparently, and tomorrow you had promised to pull an extra few hours for the sake of making up for those late days you had before your day off, hoping to even out your paycheck for the week.

Paps and Blueberry were just dolls, two total sweethearts commending you on your baking expertise (even if you did use premade cookie dough) as they waved you off for the night. Coffee was silent of course, usually you would be too, but Wine relayed that he and his bro enjoyed them. Stretch and Sans carried on a conversation casually with you while everyone was still at the table, but you could tell it was mostly to trip you up... you truly don’t like touch most of the time. Not even some your oldest friends had been able to cross that barrier. So, good luck on them.

Everyone bids you goodnight, some noticeably more enthusiastic than others at your leave. It occurred to you halfway through your apartment door that Stretch is a walking lie detector in most fanfics you’ve read, and so far this seems to be running like a shitty one... definitely explains their behavior for sure.Kind of glad they didn't decide to use you as a basketball, especially since you forgot to script in immortality...

Once home, you take a quick shower and slip back into the PJ’s you just wore before heading to bed. Knowing you’ll probably have to do that spell over again at the end of tomorrow, due to falling asleep here and waking up in your usual reality, but being able to make this much progress in Reality Shifting in one night? You’re excited to try it out again.

* * *

Somethings wrong. 

Something is _so very fucking wrong_.

You didn’t wake up back in your usual reality, in fact, you woke up to the sound of your more energetic skeleton neighbors getting ready for their morning runs, marked by their respective nicknames being shout through the walls by the others. The one you came from didn’t have a neighbor on that side at _all_.

Currently you’re trying to figure out what happened by revisiting that video. Not even the spell should’ve done this, judging by what you had read in the comments. Everyone else came back to their current reality, no ones complained about being stuck. You’re pretty sure it’s impossible to get stuck in a Dream Reality. So why? Why are you still _here_? What the fuck _happened_?

The alarm on your phone goes off suddenly, meaning you need to get ready for work. But gods above, you don’t wanna go. A full 15 hours of work would only add to the stress of the situation, and of course, sitting on this major problem all day will add to the stress of working overtime. Y’know vice versa and all that bullshit.

Maybe you didn’t actually shift and you’ve finally gotten your first schizophrenic episode. Is this how schizophrenia works? You know schizophrenic people see things, and there’s ways to tell if the hallucinations are real or not, but is it possible to hallucinate yourself in a whole other world? Can their hallucinations be things they’re obsessed with? You doubt people with it can pick and choose hallucinations like that. 

Somehow, despite the rush of thoughts, you’re out the door on time with a huff, and continue through your extra long shift barely holding it together. 


	3. Encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update this week since it’s the first full week the fic has been up!
> 
> If you see any mistakes, please feel free to tell me, I didn’t reread/edit as critically as I would normally since it’s only been a day since last update
> 
> And also, PLEASE tell me if things start making less sense, when writing I notice my ability to connect thoughts and ideas in story tends to decrease so it’d help a lot.

By the end of your shift you’re so worn out in so many different ways, you don’t even stop to get something to eat, just drive home. The emotional turmoil of the day normally paired with the added bullshit just... too much. You’re tired, you’re overwhelmed, stressed, and it’s all given you the start of a major migraine. The aura was so bad that you almost couldn’t see where you were driving, distracted by the morphing, slightly blinding zig zaggy pattern as the pain begun to set in.

Whatever happened to get you stuck here, right now, in this moment, it’ll be fine. You wanted to be here anyway... maybe not permanently, maybe not with so many of them at once in the first try. But maybe you’re not stuck here permanently, it could be something as simple as using the spell again. Or maybe they really are just hallucinations...

You’ve heard you can’t see hallucinations through phones, so the next time you see them, you probably just gotta sneak a look through your camera. If not, then you’ll try the spell before bed again, but change the intents for going to your original univers- ... reality*. But not right now, not tonight. The lights above you as you stagger across the hallway to your door are already making the mounting pain in your head worse as is, and you don’t need to be looking at your phone or trying any spells.  


Speaking of pain...

“-DO YOU HEAR ME, HUMAN?” Edge shouts from next to you. You vaguely remember running into his side at the bottom of the steps earlier, and unfortunately his voice is not helping the massive skull splitting headache slowly creeping in.

“Shut. Up.” You grind out, coming out angrier than you expected. The wrong move it seems, as he is turning a very bright shade of red and basically steaming at the ea-... where his ears would be. Cheesus crust, thank the gods aboveit’s your day off tomorrow. You’re a freaking mess.

“ **WHAT DID YOU SAY?!** ” He shouts directly into your face, slamming you to the nearby wall with a single arm and summoning a shiv-like bone, holding it close to his chest, sharp end facing you. Oh fantastic, you’ve pissed off Mr. Hot Topic.

“Edge, what are you doing?” Stretch asks accusingly from the now open door before you could respond. Unsurprisingly, he’s accumulated a few other heads from their doors. Great. You’re sure that looks good for monsters as a whole, if there’s any political shit going on here for them. But, y’know, thank fuck for Stretch right now shouting down the hall. That also helps, you’re sure.

“THIS INSOLENT HUMAN-“

“-Merely bumped into you on my way home from a 15 hour shift. Get the fuck off.”

“OR WHAT?” At that, Stretch appears next to you, yanking his angry doppelgänger off your shoulder and you breathe out a huffy breath as they stare each other down, migraine full blast now as a wave of ice pick like pains stab your forehead. Sans pops in next to you not long after you begin doubling over. Both judges stare down the other counterpart.

“I’M NOT GOING TO APOLOGIZE-“ Edge begins but is quickly cut off by your own shouting.

“ _Oh my fuckin gods_ , can you fucking can it?!” You shout, regaining composure, “I have a migraine, and now my shoulder is probably bruised. Learn to shut your fucking maw sometime or maybe learn to mind your fucking business you overgrown Halloween decoration. I don’t owe you _shit_ -!” The hall goes silent as you get another sharp pain behind your eyes, causing you to exclaim and slap your hand over them. 

The newfound silence stretches on as the pain subsides, the only noise being your sharp inhales, and you notice the rest of the skeleton crew have appeared in the hall near the little group that had formed around you as well. Perfect. Great. Amazing.  


You push past every one of them and hastily unlock your front door, thrusting it open, getting half way through the frame before turning around and shooting a half blind glare at the Fell monster. The sound of your door slamming punctuating your angry departure.

* * *

After treating your migraine- some meds, a hot relaxing shower, and a solid amount of sleep- you’re now blaring music from your Bluetooth speaker as you clean up your apartment at 10 in the morning. A month of no days off really trashed the whole place. So far you’ve gotten laundry cleaned, dried, and folded, trash picked up in bags (yes, plural) and set by the door to be taken out, and are currently going around picking up stray dishes, currently listening to your playlists as you actively avoid thinking of last night.

Songs continue to fade in and out as you go along and you really begin jamming to the more upbeat rhythms. Whispering the lyrics under the blaring music, dancing along subtly with your work as it, too, fades out, now beginning on washing and rinsing the small amount of dishes you found, placing them on the drying rack for later use. And soon you’re on your way out the door to take out trash. 

Most of your neighbors are used to your cleaning habits by now, your music hardly bothers them anymore so you don’t even think of it being uncontained by the walls this time as you head down the hall and down the stairs to the dumpster. On the way back to grab the second bag, you run into Stretch, who tries to look surprised, but you know they all wouldn’t run into someone on accident.

“yo, do you got a moment?” He asks, there’s an expression that you can’t quite place resting on his features as he does.

“Is my music bothering you?” You feign ignorance, probably better than you’ve been able to as of late. Raise a metaphorical glass to not worrying about work for a day.

“no, ‘s not that, about yesterday with-“

“What about it?”

“he... won’t be doing that again, we promise, but if anyone else gives you trouble...” Oh boy, somehow you know exactly where this is headed as he pulls out a crumpled piece of paper with everyone’s numbers on it. Called it. Regardless of how on brand it is for a reverse harem fic, you can’t help but smile. You’re sure half are somewhat aware that somethings wrong with how you act, but they all still felt the need to make sure no one gets hurt even still. Sweeties.

“Thank y’all for carin’, really, and tell Sans thanks for gettin’ him off me. I probably coulda handled myself, but it’s nice to know his actions aren’t being condoned.” 

“yeah, Edge is kinda...” he trails off, diverting his sockets to the side, “... unfriendly with humans, to say the least.”

“Hah, that’s an understatement. Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to call you first if anything happens.” You give him a knowing smile and a wink.

“cool. guess I’ll see ya around, pal.” With a short goodbye in response you return to your apartment for the last bag of trash and finish everything up with a good vacuuming. 

Only 11... hm. That’s plenty of time to do literally whatever the fuck you want. And it just so happens that it starts with messaging and inputting numbers from that paper Stretch gave you earlier, starting with the honey lover himself.

** You **

_-Hey, it’s your oh so friendly neighbor just texting to make sure you have my contact info_

**Honeycomb**

_-heh ight, saved_

**You**

_-Did I ever apologize for yelling in the hall? Cuz I feel like I should apologize for tht_

**Honeycomb**

_-dun worry about it_

_-He deserved it and then some_

**You**

_-Hey snas, it’s le neighbōr. Thanks for the help yesterday._

**Fartmaster**

_-lol no problem le neighbōr  
  
_

**You**

_-Hey blue! It’s y’alls neighbor_

**Widdle Beanie Baby**

_-OH! HELLO NEIGHBOR HUMAN :D I AM VERY SORRY ABOUT THAT INCIDENT WITH EDGE YESTERDAY, ARE YOU OKAY?_

**You**

_-Thanks for worrying Blue, I’m perfectly fine now 💜  
  
_

**You**

_-Hi, Papy! It’s that human who brought over those cookies the other day. Just texting to make sure you’ve got my #_

**Big Beanie Baby**

_-HELLO HUMAN FRIEND! I SHALL SAVE YOUR NUMBER POSTHASTE!_

** You **

_ -Hey, Wine, it’s your neighbor making sure you guys have my number saved. I’ll let you decide to give it to Coffee, or whatever it is you’re ok with. I know you’re kind of protective of him (: _

**Squashed Grape**

_-A respectable choice, thank you Human._

_~Squashed Grape has added you to a group chat with one other.~_

Ah, a group chat is a good idea. You’re not sure how often the Fellswap Pap uses phones to communicate so you leave it be for now. Besides, you understand he doesn’t like talking much. Wouldn’t want to make him feel like he has to reply to you.

Now that everyone has your number, and because you’re calmer now, you figure a bit of fiddling around with that spell and figuring out how to get back is in order. You’ll need to round up your spell supplies again and prep for it- oh crap you ran out of dried lavender and a few other herbs! Looks like you’ll have to take a trip to a metaphysical shop first. 

* * *

  
That human neighbor of theirs rubs Stretch the wrong way. He’s not sure how to describe it, but... that tiny half lie, the lack of fear at Edge’s aggression yesterday, and he’s sure the apartment manager said the one next to his was empty the day before everyone moved in. Yet there they are. Living there and suddenly everyone knows they live there, too. Perhaps they meant another apartment?

“-just... i can’t figure it out, if they came from another universe, which did they come from?” Classic asks, brow bones stitched together and sockets fixed to the table tapping away with his pen.

“one thing we know for sure is they’re an anomaly.” Stretch pitches in, “and they know it.”

“i guess i jus’ don’t understand what th’ big deal is.” Red grumbles, flicking a paper football to the other side of the table flippantly. “so they feel a lil out of place, what about it? most a’ us _are_ a lil outta place.” 

“why’d you even come if you’re not gonna help?” The original all but throws out, clearly frustrated at the lack of concern from his edgy counterpart.

“jus’ ask ‘em. see if they’ll spill. let ‘im know ya know what ya know.”

“that’s stupid Red, it’ll never work-“ He begins, only to be cut off by Stretch.

“-it could work. I dunno why I didn’t think of it but... if I ask them and they lie, I’ll know instantly.” Stretch says, the two turn to look at Red incredulously.

“don’t look at me li’ dat, ‘m smart jus’ like all a’ ya. apparently a bit more so but ya know.” With that, he returns to flicking a paper football. They choose to ignore that little comment at the end.

“well now that we have an idea, how should we put it in motion?”

“they’re off work today, we could invite them over for dinner or hangout or... something. get Stretch and them alone.” Coffee, who’s refrained from contributing so far scribbles on his notebook before presenting it.

“how ‘bout putting them on a date instead, sure a human would find that  much  more comfortable than being stuck in a house full a’ skeletons who question their existence.” It reads, with sarcasm practically dripping from the page. Sans and Stretch roll their eyes.

“I’ll invite them over for dinner, we’ll all chill for a bit, and I’ll walk them back after and ask.” 


	4. Witches and Invites

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact!  
> I originally got the idea for this entire fanfic when I tried searching for an Among Us and Undertale mash up.
> 
> I couldn’t find one =w=“ which is why I started writing.
> 
> But since it strays super far from Among Us, I decided not to call it a mash up and just hint at the idea that started it all.
> 
> Also I’ve been more busy editing future chapters and adding story to them than editing this one so there may be some mistakes or unfleshed out parts and I apologize in advance.

  
Buzzing alerts you to a text invite for dinner with everyone from Stretch as you enter the shop but choose to ignore it for now. If this spell goes right, you can choose to pick up where you left off here after going back, but you'll still take your time to think about it. After all, you’re busy with something else.

Jingling bell above the door to the small but packed shop announces your arrival. Immediately after walking in, there’s sorted bins of small crystals with their uses listed to your left, and beginner and advanced grimoires on a thrifted shelf to the right. Straight ahead is the counter manned by a short feminine human wearing a dark green, long sleeved, crushed velvet dress, they give a short greeting and so do you before they return to counting the tip jar.

Further in, theres small cauldrons, spell bowls, and some mortars and pestles. Statues for altars, pillar candles and candle snuffers, altar cloths, and bigger crystals on the back wall. And finally, your eyes lay upon the incense and herbs section just before that back wall.

“Mugwort, blue vervain... lavender-“

“Need help finding anything today?” A kind looking old lady wearing a modern witch hat and a simple cloak asks, her sudden appearance startling you slightly.

“A-ah, I’m just grabbing some stuff for astral pr-projection.” You explain, the woman’s wrinkled face gives into a shaky knowing smile.

“You’re not from here, are you?”

“Oh, uh I actually live a few miles away, I just usually dry my own-“

“No no, this realm, sweetie.” She cuts you off, “You’re from another realm. Have you been visiting long?” 

“...” you look away from her and back at the herbs, “it’s been two days and I’m trying to go back. I was supposed to just fall asleep again and wake up back in my reality but I...”

“Ah...” the lady pauses to think as you avoid her eyes, “sometimes travelers get stuck somewhere for a reason. What’s your reason dearie?”

“... I... I’m not sure.”

“If going back is truly what you want, then I suggest you throw in some Racemosus in your spell for spirit alignment. It may help you flow more freely through realms. But if you want to stay, then Salicifolia will help you figure out what it is you need through memories with the right intent.”

“...Thanks.” It comes out as more of a whisper, but you take the advice and head to check out. Now all that’s left is to recreate the spell... is it what you truly want though?

* * *

That small interaction with the witch from the shop brought to light one thing thus far, among all your new muddled second guessed thoughts; they can tell simply because you’re misplaced in this reality. You’re not sure if mages exist here or if they died out or... really anything about this world, so if she had any semblance of mage powers, then it’s definite proof the Judges may have realized you’re an anomaly here.

Now you’re home, staring at all your new (and old, of course) supplies for the spell. If they know, or found out, it could be dangerous for you to stay here as you are. You’re not willing to test if you scripted in immortality when you accidentally got stuck here, considering you wouldn’t have scripted all these guys at once on the first try, this reality seems to have a mind of its own.

Whatever happens, you _need_ to go back first. Perhaps fix how many of them there are, definitely the immortality thing, maybe some cool magic powers for you or a new appearance.

You phone buzzes again, another message from Stretch to see if you’d like to come by for dinner with the guys. Seems like Blue keeps asking when you’re gonna show.

Ack, imagining Blue excitedly waiting for you and you NOT showing up? Even if you don’t belong here, and it could be dangerous, you can’t disappoint that precious ball of energy.

**You**

_-I’ll be there in a few, just finished some shopping._

**Honeybee**

_-dope c u soon_

You really hopes you’re doing this for his bro.

* * *

Everyone’s side-eyeing you. Well, the Judges at least.

Why though? You showed up like you said you would, you’re not dressed up too much or dressed down as bad as you were last time. They asked you to be here, too. Even Red is acting weird-

Shit, you haven’t met Red yet! Edge, sure, you barely acknowledged him when arriving and that’s to be expected considering. But Red wasn’t here last time, neither of them were. In fact, you didn’t even act like he was a stranger (for the most part), you’ve just been chatting with everybody.

They definitely know now don’t they? Fuck they know. You’ve definitely got to leave tonight and script in better shit-

“hey, I’m afraid we didn’t catch your name last time.” Sans says from across the table, snapping you out of your paranoid thoughts.

“Oh, just call me Fox.” You reply, trying to not sound anxious... you don’t think it’s very effective. 

“alright, well, Fox, this is Edge and Red. sorry we didn’t introduce you earlier.” Oh so it was intentional then.

“I kn- I figured.” Your slip up didn’t go unnoticed, even you can see all the present judges tense. Fuck this is going terrible, “Nice to meet you both.”

The banter continues as if nothing happened, everyone eats, and you attempt to hold conversations but you’re now extremely uncomfortable and highly feel like running. A feeling akin to needles forming in your veins becomes more and more apparent to you.

There’s no way they didn’t catch that, there’s no way they don’t realize you’re an anomaly in their reality by now either. Luckily, everyone begins to filter into the living area. Blue, bless his soul, suggests a board game. ‘Sorry’ to be exact. It’s missing a few pieces but is otherwise functional. Papyrus is the only one to agree to it, though. Edge, who has been actively avoiding being too close to or even speaking directly to you (thank gods), suggests a horror movie marathon. Wine and Red agree with him, Coffee agreeing silently, leaving Blue, Papyrus, Stretch and Sans to disagree. A tie. Only to be broken by you.

“SO, PITIFUL HUMAN, WHAT WILL IT BE?” Edge questions, glaring at you.

“We watch Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse first. That’s my one and only condition.”

“DEAL.” Edge and Wine say together.

“I’m already casting it, everyone sit down. And uh, anyone sensitive to topics of loved ones passing should be warned now that it does have a major character death.” You say, flopping down on the floor, already chilled out as much as possible, smiling like a goon despite prior anxiety. It’s some dream shit, honestly, watching a movie with all of them. Showing them your favorites, them showing you theirs. Another classic scene in a shitty fanfic.

Everyone settles on the furniture behind you soon after as the intro begins, Blue and Paps especially excited for this one as the opening scene starts and Spiderman and Miles are introduced. Everyone is almost instantly enamored, some gasping at certain scenes as Miles gets bit, yaddah yaddah.

When the movie gets to Uncle Aaron’s death scene, a silent yawn escapes you before settling further down into your spot, eyes drooping. The sensation of needled veins still has yet to subside, and falling asleep, you concur, would be much better than the near painful sensation. With the spell to do, and a striking fear of letting the judges catch you alone right now... why not?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve met some rl expert level pagans and their ability to tell you things you don’t even know is fukin *muah* chefs kiss
> 
> Lemme tell ya, I didn’t even know I had a relative named George and this elder was like ‘hey so Grandpa George is the one following you btw’
> 
> Found out a year later who she was talking about.


	5. Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️TW: abandonment, name calling, mention of bullying⚠️

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SUPER EARLY UPDATE BC I HAVENT SLEPT YET AND I AM ✨IMPATIENT✨
> 
> Hah.
> 
> Hope everyone stayed safe on Thanksgiving!  
> Covid is at an all time high in the states and I know it’s starting to get a bit too close for comfort in my small, isolated town. Several of my immunocompromised friends are having difficulty avoiding it in their own families, who are either at risk for bringing it home or have brought it home already and my friends are doing their best to avoid it when it’s in their home.  
> And with the threat of it getting higher every day due to traveling, I’m aware it’s probably reaching more families like my friends’. 
> 
> I’m an essential worker myself and a single parent, so I’ve got v little choice rn. Just gotta wash my hands, use hand sanitizer, and wear a mask when I can and hope and pray to the gods I don’t bring it home to my toddler.

_Daycare in the summer is... fine. You’re 8 years old, your arm is broken- specifically your radius, really close to your wrist- and the threat of having surgery to correct it is on the tips of the bone specialist’s tongue each visit, the kids in your daycare group didn’t care to sign your cast and got mad when you decided to write and draw on it yourself but, honestly, what should you care?_

_It’s summer after all, and while the kids in your group want to pick on you all the time and go out of their way to ensure you have no one to play with..._ _Okay yeah, it’s bad. You don’t like it here.  
  
_

_But, when the other kids go on a trip to the pool, the park, or some other place you can’t go with your cast on, you get to sit in with napping children or sit with the boss person of the whooooole building and talk with her while you watch the hourglass... or the lava lamp if it’s with the sleeping kids._

_It’s silent like this, a peace you can’t get with the others around. Hell, even with your two siblings it’s never this quiet. So what if you don’t have friends here because you’re annoying?_

_For the summer, you’ll enjoy this loneliness._

_The friends you had in elementary school keep pretending not to know you. At first, it seemed like a joke, but as the first year of middle school stretched on, they continued to pretend they didn’t know who you were. Any and all attempts to talk to them were battered away with the same words. _

_ “Do I know you?” _

_ You decided it’s just time to make new friends. And easily, you do. Only... there’s one problem.  _

_ They, too, attempt to get rid of you in the next few years, going so far as to make a vote about your continued friendship right in front of you. _

_ And again, you’re alone. _

_ That’s alright, though... Being alone will pass like it did before. For now, you’ll try find comfort in it once more._

  
  


_ “You’re not the only one who has feelings, you fucking Freak!” Your siblings harsh words cut into you again as they bang on your bedroom door, attempting to force themselves in, your weight on it being the only thing keeping them out, and only just as you attempt to find other objects to bare down with. _

_ Right before, they had pushed you too far and, with the new medication you were put on by your therapist, you lost control of your anger for a split second. And that split second is all it needed to stab the door they were hiding behind with a screw driver before you stumbled off to your room.   
  
_

_ For people claiming that you don’t care about others feelings, they sure do like pushing yours until you snap. Which rarely, if ever happens. You just got unlucky with a medication. And by the gods above do you feel guilty, and you tried apologizing already. _

_ They both continue to screech things like ‘No one could ever love you’ and ‘you’re going to die alone’, but the longer you fight them off, the more tired they grow. _ _ Honestly, you’d tell them off normally, if you could control the anger. Right now, what you wish is to be left alone. _

_ Their finally silenced screams and your increasing sobs are the only noises to acknowledge that plea. _

_ It’s been almost a week since you last saw him. No food, no money, no transportation, no friends or family nearby. And now, no him. Just an apartment that doesn’t legally belong to you full of furniture and things that also don’t belong to you no matter how often you tried convincing him to put you on the lease. _

_ The last thing he said to you was that he wanted to go for a drive alone after taking in some of your alcohol. You tried to stop him, gods above did you try, but he was gone before you could get a single word out. The only indication he’s still alive is that any and all messages you sent were being left on read. Even as you send another asking when he’ll be back, it instantly gets opened but remained unanswered. _

_ You guys didn’t even have a fight. What did you do wrong? Why wouldn’t he talk to you? Why did he leave you here alone? _

_ Why did you let him weaponize the silence you used to love? _

_ The sound of your anguished cries are the only reply you get, the haunting echo flowing through the apartment like a lamenting ghost. _

_ It’s been a year since you’ve started living alone. Diving into your work to block out the emptiness of your small apartment. While it once brought you comfort, and still does in a sense, staying around in its barren walls for too long drives you mad. Taking extra shifts and extra hours whenever you get the chance to further ignore the silence that follows.  _

_ The days bleed together, and any day spent alone in the lonesome apartment is a day you’d blare your music and clean until it was spotless or watching videos on YouTube and tiktok with volume full blast. Maybe if you’re lucky, you’ll find a half decent fanfic and speedrun it just to stop feeling so alone, or maybe even watch a scary movie to ebb it away too, but in a creepier way._

_ Being alone is lonely, but it’s something you’re familiar with, enamored with to a degree even. Yet... part of you is tired of being alone. _

_ And that same part of you let’s out a silent tears in the solemn apartment as you read another reader insert fanfic while waiting for the exhaustion to finally hit._

_ There’s no reply this time, the silence only continues through your equally silent hiccups. _

_ Do you really want to be alone? _

__

* * *

Another morning, another day. Only there’s a specific lack of skeletons yelling from the apartment over getting ready for a morning run, and thus your alarm is the only noise to wake you this time. It’s sound being the only noise echoing through your empty apartment. You had snuck back home last night after everyone filtered to their rooms, doing your best to stay silent as you could in the process. After successfully making it home, you did the spell with the herbs that store witch convinced you to use and promptly fell back to sleep.

Now you’re home. You feel like shit, more specifically, guilt ridden and lonely. The dream you had on your way back to your reality opened up things you didn’t like to think about. Everything you explicitly worked so hard (quite literally) to avoid.

Still, you get ready as nothing ever happened, dressing in the restaurants uniform and brushing through your short hair. Still, you go to work, repeating your normal work day as usual. Silently crying again as a drunk customer yells at you for a minuscule mistake, missing the drunk monster customer that would tip you out of pity... in their place, it was just another human you’d never see again.   
  


You snuff out another small, stupid fire on the grill.

Your phone displays no notifications throughout the day, no new numbers with silly nicknames pop up. Sure, you didn’t get to experience it long in your Dream Reality, but the new lack of, well,  any  numbers in your phone other than your boss’ and coworkers who may need you to cover their shift, it makes you feel...

Hollow.

Now, don’t take that wrong, you’re used to it, the hollowness. You didn’t have friends or family nearby to hang out with on days off, effectively cutting any you may have had off years ago due to your own childish fears kinda does that. It’s something you’ve preferred for a long time now. No one knowing you, you knowing no one. No pain, no sorrow, and no attachments you’d have to get rid of.

But. It’s been a while since you experienced a break from it. And the newfound hollowness of loneliness, for lack of a better word,  sucks.

It was only a dream, you tried to tell yourself, that was the whole point of  Dream Realities.

By the time you return home, there’s still no loud boisterous voices leaking through the walls. No sight of any of the skeletons. No monsters. The quiet is the only noise to greet you as you enter your apartment. Luckily, the cleaning you did when in your Dream Reality... stuck somehow. You decide you’re not willing to question it as you strip of your uniform and shower, opting to eat the takeout you got on the way home as you do.

Y’know. Multi-tasking.

Once out, you head for your garbage couch and lay down. Surely sleeping will lift your awful mood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I start adding some serious plot to this soon, and unfortunately fleshing it out means rearranging scenes to the point even I start getting confused on what goes where.
> 
> My notes are a wreck ==“
> 
> Gonna need to do some serious writing in this coming week bc I’ve got like... 3 or more chapters to go inbetween this and what I currently have written. Hopefully I don’t need to do anymore rearranging between this and what I have written cuz I’ve got ideas 💡 
> 
> Also, the first half of this wasnt supposed to be until way later originally and. Ugh. I’m all over the place here tryna make this a better story than what I started with ;-;

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are appreciated! 
> 
> I’m new to writing still, so *constructive* criticism is also welcomed.


End file.
